Cracked Ribs and Headaches
by ItalianRose5
Summary: After being seriously injured, Deryn's secret is finally revealed.  One-shot.


**Note: I do not own Leviathan or any of the characters from Leviathan. Those all belong to Scott Westerfeld (who is awesome)**

**Hope you enjoy. This is my first one. **

"Help! My friend has been hurt!" Alek shouted as he burst through the hospital doors. He gripped a half conscious Dylan, trying to keep the boy on his feet as they staggered in. There was blood gushing from Dylan's head and his hand clutched his left side. Bovril perched on Alek's shoulder, staring intently at Dylan.

"Help," Alek croaked again as a nurse and doctor rushed forward, each taking one of Dylan's arms. They helped him stumble to a bed, leaving Alek and Bovril alone in the waiting area with another nurse.

His disheveled look must have alarmed her, because she led him to a bed and began checking him for injuries. Alek displayed only a few scratches and small, shallow punchers on his shoulder from Bovril's claws. Satisfied with his condition, the nurse left him with a pitcher and basin to wash up with. His hands and his jacket were caked with dirt and Dylan's blood.

Alek removed the jacket and began scrubbing his skin. He would occasionally glance around the room, trying to locate Dylan. Curtains had been drawn around the other boy's bed. His injuries must have been even more serious than Alek had thought.

After washing up and trying his best to get some of the dirt and blood out of Bovril's fur, Alek lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Dylan. He could never forgive himself if anything serious happened to his friend.

An hour passed, with the nurse coming to check on Alek periodically. He was close to dozing off, when Bovril stirred and began making small noises. Alek sat up in bed and saw a young doctor headed toward him.

Seeing the question look in Alek's eyes, the doctor smiled and said, "Don't worry, your friend is fine." Alek breathed a sigh of relief.

"How bad are the injuries?" Alek asked.

"Well, she has a cracked rib and the cut on her forehead was deep enough to need stitches. She also has a minor concussion," the doctor answered.

Alek's mouth had fallen open. Had the doctor just said "she"? The first time the doctor said it, Alek thought he had heard him wrong. But then the word "her" had appeared and "she" again.

"Are you sure you have the correct patient?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course. I saw you bring her in," the doctor replied, looking puzzlingly at Alek.

"Right. I… just thought… uh… her injuries would have been much more severe," Alek stumbled.

"Well, a cracked rib can be quite serious. She's lucky it was one of the middle ribs. She'll be in a good deal of pain for a while, but it will heal neatly."

"Yes, of course. Thank you doctor. When may I see her?"

"She has been sedated for the moment. As I said, she is in a good deal of pain. She should be awake in a few hours. If I were you I'd get some sleep. I'll make sure to tell you the moment she is awake."

"Thank you," Alek murmured. The doctor nodded and walked back toward Dylan's bed.

Alek sat in shock for a moment before looking at Bovril. The perspicacious loris knew exactly what he was thinking. "_Mr._ Sharp," it said and giggled.

"Well, that explains much," Alek muttered, laying his head on the pillow and falling asleep immediately.

* * *

Deryn woke with a throbbing headache.

"Barking spiders," she mumbled. Slowly, her eyes opened to take in the scene around her. "Where am I?"

She tried sitting up, and gasped at the pain in her side. It felt like a hot poker was jabbing her in the ribs.

"Now, now, you just lay back down," a soothing female voice said. "You've had a rough night. You have a few cracked ribs and a slight concussion, but really, you're very lucky young lady."

_Young lady?_ Deryn's eyes widened at those words. How did this woman know she was a girl. Her eyes darted around widely and she realized she was in one of those makeshift war hospitals. The woman tending her was a nurse. She tried remembering how she had gotten here, and events began flooding back into her memory.

"Alek," she gasped.

The nurse didn't miss a beat. "Your friend is fine. Just a few scratches. He's been resting until you woke up. We have informed him of your injuries."

Deryn suddenly felt dizzy. If Alek knew of her injuries, did that mean he also knew what she was? A girl! She groaned loudly.

The nurse misunderstood the sound as a reaction to the pain Deryn was in. "Now you just rest and I will let your friend know that you are awake."

"No, I…" Deryn started, but it was too late. The nurse had bustled off, intent on finding Alek.

Deryn felt cold. This was the moment she had dreaded since meeting Alek. She was now regretting the decision to not tell him herself. What would his reaction be? Would he be angry, disappointed, hurt? She began to feel sick to her stomach and tried not to think about it.

Deryn didn't have long to wait. It was only a few minutes before she caught sight of Alek moving between the crowded beds. His expression was unreadable. Bovril was sitting on his should, alternately look between Alek and Deryn.

Alek's eyes caught Deryn's in a questioning look. She could only look at him for a second, before shifting her eyes down to her hands. She sensed him sitting down on the chair next to her with a heavy sigh. Bovril immediately jumped onto the bed to cuddle up next to her. After a few moments, Deryn cautiously glanced at Alek. He was in his regular thinking posture; elbows on his knees, the palms of his hands together under his chin, and looking at her, searching.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Alek decided to speak first.

"Who are you?" he whispered.

She had expected a question like this first, of course. What shocked her was that there was no hint of emotion in Alek's voice. Not anger, or disappointment. Nothing.

She breathed heavily, which caused her to wince in pain. "Deryn," she croaked.

"Deryn," he repeated slowly. He seemed to think about this for a second before going on. "I know why you did it. In fact, it almost makes sense to me, and explains a good bit about you. But what I don't understand is why you didn't tell me."

A long pause followed this statement. Deryn stared at her hands again, thinking of what to tell him.

Before she could begin to form the correct words, Alek asked, "Is it because you don't trust me?"

"No!" she answered rather quickly. She could feel her cheeks turn red. Of course it wasn't that. She trusted him more than anyone else. What she couldn't tell him was her feelings for him or that she just _knew_ that he in turn would have those same feelings for her. That was never going to work, him being a barking prince and all. And he had already told her in Istanbul that he could never do something like that to his children.

"I was afraid of losing your friendship," she finally decided to say. "You're the best friend I've ever had and I thought this," she gestured to herself, "would change things."

There was a slight pause before a small smile crept across Alek's face. "I'm not that much of a _dummkopf_ you know. You're still the same person as before. Your gender certainly doesn't change that."

Her eyes snapped to his. "You mean you're not angry?"

"Shocked is more like it. Although I did have a whole night to get over that." He grinned at her. "I'm just trying to think how I could have missed the signs. There were plenty now that I think about them."

"Well if you weren't such a daft ninny," she automatically blurted. She felt her cheeks grow warm again. Now that she was a girl, was it too forward for her to call him such a thing?

But Alek just laughed and took her hand. She jumped slightly, but he either didn't notice or was too polite to say anything.

"See, you are still you. My friend. Nothing will change that."

He grinned at her. Slowly and hesitantly she returned his smile. The fact that he had so readily accepted her as Deryn scared her a little. If he could still be her friend this easily, then it was going to be effortless for him to fall in love with her. Unfortunately at this point there was nothing she could do. For now she would continue to be his friend and hope things didn't go pear-shaped too quickly.


End file.
